


You Make Me Level

by MellindaHightop, Thedragoninthesnow



Series: Who You Gonna Call? [4]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-09 15:27:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7807183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellindaHightop/pseuds/MellindaHightop, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thedragoninthesnow/pseuds/Thedragoninthesnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stressful situations get a whole lot worse when you add ghosts to the mix</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Panic!

“Rings? Check. Necklace? Check. Stress ball? Check.” Valerie sometimes wondered if staying in New York had been such a great idea once she finished college. She could be an accountant anywhere, hell there were probably even other music studios that wouldn’t mind her dahlia piercings or her wrist tattoo.

But her mom didn’t want to leave and Valerie couldn’t justify leaving her mother alone. So she found a job at a music studio and combated her anxiety with various stress toys. It hadn’t been so bad before, she made it through college only needing to rely on her chew necklace. But then her boss decided to treat her like his personal assistant, which wouldn’t have been so bad if it came with a pay raise and didn’t mean that everything bad that happened became her fault.

Valerie’s mild anxiety disorder was quickly becoming a major one with his instance that she get screamed at for everything that went wrong even if her only job was to keep track of the finances. Sadly that anxiety also meant she couldn’t raise her voice and quit since her mind went to the idea of how bad being without work would go for her.

Sighing softly and tugging her long black hair into a bun Valerie grabbed her purse and headed out, pausing a moment to making little tutting noises at her pet before finally leaving.

There was one good thing about staying in New York.

Patty.

Smiling softly Valerie thought about the MTA worker. The two met when Valerie was having a breakdown in the subway after getting the job at the studio and then going into a crisis over if she’d be good enough to keep it. Patty left her office and sat with her as Valerie rocked slightly and chewed on her necklace. There had been no judgement as she checked her over once Valerie came back to herself, just gentle hands and voice helping her restart her breathing pattern and holding her shaking hands. The next day Patty checked on her, asking if she felt okay and even cheered her on when she mentioned she was heading to work.

After that Valerie always got to the subway early in order to spend a few moments talking to her.  
Taking the steps two at a time she turned the corner and stopped, seeing Jessie sitting in the box instead of Patty. Usually Jessie wasn’t in the box until Valerie was coming home from her job.

“Hi Jessie?” Confusion was obviously in her tone as the other looked up bored.

“Hey Valerie. Heading to work?”

“Yeah….where’s Patty?”

“Quit.”

“What?”

“Yeah, she up and quit. A little while ago.”

A little while ago meant sometime in the last two weeks since Valerie had been on vacation with her mother. Clicking her tongue Valerie felt her hands shift and she started playing with her spinner ring.

“I see.” Nodding to Jessie Valerie stepped aside and went to wait for her train, still playing with her spinner ring. Valerie didn’t like things messing with her schedule and was now feeling out of sorts since she didn’t speak to Patty. Humming to herself she kept playing with her ring, the spinning sound matching her humming and helping her refocus on herself.

On her train she felt her foot tapping and sighed, realizing today was going to be rough. Not even at work yet and she was frazzled. Hopefully her boss was taking a sick day and wouldn’t be there to start working her last few nerves. She would really like not to have a crying fit in the bathroom.

Entering the studio she winced slightly seeing that she hadn’t gotten lucky. Mitchell was pacing the floor and looked ready to pop when he turned his attention towards Valerie.

“Where the hell have you been?!”

“Virginia? I took time off to help my mom? You okayed it two months ago?” Valerie couldn’t help the inflection of her voice, naturally leaning towards sounding like she was questioning something.

Mitchell huffed like a bull for a moment before refocusing his glare on her. “We have a problem and you go prancing off with your immigrant mother.”

Valerie’s hands went back to her ring and she fidgeted with it for a brief moment but didn’t answer.

“Go keep the musicians and artist busy.”

“What’s the problem?”

“The problem is none of your business. Now go before I find someone who actually does their job!”

Valerie’s voice caught in her throat and she hurried off to the back room where the artist was waiting, clearly upset over not being allowed into one of the recording rooms. Twisting the ring more she gave him a shaky smile and quickly thought of something to say.

“Mitchell is having some people check out the rooms to ensure that nothing is there. One of his partner studios recently had a scare with bugs and he doesn’t want the same to happen here.”

Valerie didn’t like lying but she figured this one was harmless. It would keep the artist from getting pissy and wouldn’t cast a bad light on the studio. Thankfully he seemed to be understanding and agreed to wait until the examine was done. Nodding she headed out to find Mitchell to tell him the artist and musicians were going to wait until he came by and cleared the recording room.

Taking a corner she stopped up short when she saw her boss talking to a group of women in jumpsuits. They were holding a smoking container and she blinked slightly as she came over. As she got closer it was clear that he was arguing with them over payment and the word ‘ghost’ kept getting tossed around.

“Mitchell?”

“Orsini what the hell are you doing here?!” He growled, whirling to her with a glare. “I told you to keep them busy.”

“They’re waiting for you to clear the recording rooms. I told them-“

“I didn’t tell you to tell them anything! You stupid ginzo! Can’t you do anything right?!”

Valerie didn’t have time to react as someone’s fist came whizzing between them and slammed into Mitchell’s cheek. Blinking she looked up to see who had thrown the punch and nearly stepped back in surprise.

“Patty?”

“Hey Vallie.” Patty’s arm moved from it’s violent position to wrap around her shoulders. “Didn’t think I’d see you here.”

“Jessie said you quit.”

“Yeah I did. Come meet my friends.”

Mitchell sputtered slightly before getting up, glaring at the group. “You know this woman Orsini?!”

“Patty and I are friends.” Valerie said, feeling herself being tugged back by Patty.

Mitchell’s next few words were slurs about both her and Patty’s race, which got violently ended when a woman with orange tinted hair punched him again.

“That’s it! If you’re going to associate with these women Orsini you can get the hell out of my studio!”

Valerie paused, blinking and tipping her head to the side. “So I’m fired?”

“Yes you moronic bimbo! You’re fired!”

“Alright.” Moving past him Valerie went into her office space and quickly packed up. She didn’t keep a lot of personal objects at work, but she did have a few journals she wrote in and a computer program a friend wrote for her that made things easier. With her items in hand she walked back out to the group and smiled at Patty.

After they left the studio she was offered a ride home which she gladly accepted, feeling herself starting to panic as the realization set in that she was now jobless. Patty was sitting next to her and had a hand on her shoulder to keep her from rocking too far forward.

“Hey if you want we could always use an accountant baby.”


	2. Get to work

A bus and a half a mile walk stood between her and her new job that morning. Valerie spent the night before pacing and ranting to Duchess, her Scottish Terrier, about how badly things were going to go. She just huffed at her, laying on the couch and watching her pace. But in the morning she got dressed and headed to the address that Patty had given her.

A firehouse wasn’t something she imagined but if Patty worked here it couldn’t be that bad.  
Sighing deeply she tried her best to roll her shoulders back and entered the fire station, fingers going to her ring and messing with it as she looked around the first floor. There was a receptionist desk, but whoever was supposed to work there was missing. Humming through her teeth she wondered if it was right if she went up the stairs she saw.

“Hey!” Jumping out of her skin Valerie looked up and saw one of the women that had been with Patty the day before poking her head out from the hole of the sliding pole. Blinking slightly Valerie stepped closer. “You’re Patty’s friend yeah? Come on up!”

Nodding Valerie hurried up the stairs, getting to the door just as the other opened it.

“Fast legs! I’m Holtzmann.”

“Valerie.”

“Great!” Holtzmann sure liked to smile, but it was a kind one that eased Valerie’s nerves into order. She even let go of her ring. Following Holtzmann into the office spaced she blinked in surprise at the equipment.

“What exactly do you do? I remember yesterday hearing about ghosts but…”

“They can’t be real?”

“Why would they be at the music studio?”

Her answer caused Holtzmann to pause and then break into laughter, having to hold herself up against the table. The sound brought the others out of hiding.

“Hey Vallie!” Patty greeted happily, coming over and hugging her tightly.

“Hi Patty.” Valerie said happily, hugging her back.

“You’ve already met Holtzy. This is Abby and Erin.” The other two nodded as their introductions and Valerie gave them a nervous smile. “Erin’s been the one trying to keep track of all the money, but you’ve got the talent for it baby.”

“I just went to school for it.” Valerie’s voice came out quickly and ended in a squeak.

“I’m telling you Erin, girl can do it all in her head.”

That was true. Valerie had learned to do figures quickly and without a calculator since during college she was busy bouncing between helping her mother keep watch over her ailing grandfather or in group meetings trying to find a handle on her anxiety. She never had a desk to work out the figures long hand or space for a calculator.

“Well it’s nice to know someone actually knows what they’re doing.” Erin smiled to her and held out her hand. “Erin Gilbert. Doctor of Particle Physics.”

“Valerie Orsini. Accountant I guess.” Valerie’s laugh was honest, something she had been struggling with for a while.

“Come on, let me show you to the office we set up.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yeah we did baby.” Patty’s hand settled between her shoulder blades as the two of them followed after Erin. “It’s not pretty yet. Figured you know what you wanted to personalize it.”

“Like your necklace?”

That earned her a laugh from both of them as Erin opened the door and flipped on the light. It was true, the office wasn’t pretty. Valerie wandered in and looked the space over, hands folded against her stomach. It was a small room, probably a former storage area. Someone had moved in a few bookcases which did make the room smaller, and there was a fairly decent sized desk. The computer that went with it looked like it should be a part of some sci-fi show instead of sitting under the desk and was paired with a monitor she swore had cathode tubes in another life. The chair was a fairly new from the looks of it, as well as the keyboard and mouse.

But there was nothing else. It was an empty room that was waiting for attention. Taking a deep breath Valerie smiled.  
“I like it.”

“It ain’t too small?”

“I rather like it small. I don’t feel as crowded.” It was an oddly backward thought, but smaller spaces made her feel safer than larger ones. “Plus I can organize better in a smaller space. I just need some boxes.”

“I’m sure Holtzmann has a few hidden away you can borrow. I’ll talk to her about it.” Erin said with a slight nod before she went off to do just that. Patty came into the room as well and looked around.

“You sure you can handle this Vallie? I know I kinda blindsided you with the job offer right after that ass fired you.”

“I’m glad you did. You saw me in the car, Patty, I was halfway to a breakdown.”

“Still. I’ve been here a while and I know that…well, Holtzy alone might be a bit much.”

“I like her.”

“Hm.” Patty smiled at her brightly and tugged her into another hug. “Hope we don’t press you too hard girl.”

“After my last job I doubt that.”

“Man, I do not know how you lasted at that place, baby.”

“Spinner ring, chew necklace and stress ball. My mom gave me a few other stimming toys I hadn’t brought in yet. Plus ranting to my dog when I get home.”

“I got you girl. Go ahead and bring the toys in. No one’s gonna mess with them.”

Nodding Valerie went over to the computer and booted it up, jumping slightly at the sudden noise that came from it. Looking over the monitor she noticed that it had been gutted and refitted with a high quality screen and pieces to it.

“Who?”

“Holtzy. Said she didn’t wanna waste money buying a new one when she could just make it. If it starts smoking run.”

“..Should I be scared?”

“Nah. She said it was safe and she knows her work.”

“Mm.”

“Need anything, baby?”

“Umm..receipts, pay stubs, work forms. Basically anything that has a monetary value on it showing what was spent or gained?” Valerie asked, taking a seat at her new desk and pulling out a notebook and pens. “I wanna get started.”

“I’ll get the stuff Erin had.” Patty nodded to her and left the office, giving Valerie time to set up her old program and start tweaking the computer around to fit her needs. The chair rocked back and forth with her movements, which actually helped her focus instead of distracting her like it usually would’ve.

Holtzmann sauntered in a few moments later carrying an arm full of boxes that fell to the ground once she stopped moving. “Pony Express!”

“I only needed one or two.” Valerie said, quickly getting out of her seat and hurrying over to Holtzmann. The other laughed and helped her pick them up.

“Never know when you need more. Plus I can get these things anywhere!”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am. We’re good.” Holding up her hand for a high five Valerie hesitantly responded to it, taken slightly off guard when the slap was gentle. She had been expecting her hand to be left stinging afterwards.

“Glad to see you two are getting along.” Patty had returned in the middle of their conversation, carrying a tub of paperwork. Valerie’s fingers twitched slightly at the sight of it all jumbled together and she sighed, rubbing her hands for a moment to settle the feeling.

“Holtzmann was right. I’m going to need a lot of boxes.”

“Where you want it, baby?”

“Right here is fine, Patty.” Stepping backward she opened the space so Patty could set the tub down. Near her desk now, she grabbed a sharpie from her mess of pens and opened the cap on it. Holding it between her teeth she knelt down and grabbed one of her new boxes, quickly scribbling ‘Receipts’ on it before repeating the process of labeling the other boxes.

“You gonna be good baby?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” Valerie said, nodding and settling on the floor with her legs crossed. “You guys go back to your work. I’ve got my hands full here.”

The two nodded and left, though Patty left the door open behind them. It didn’t bother Valerie since there was no cross wind to disrupt the papers. Settling in she started to pull the papers out and sort them so she could have some order in the chaos.

A moment after she started sorting Dolly Parton’s ‘ _Working Nine to Five_ ’ started blasting. Looking up she saw Holtzmann dancing around, clearly having the time of her life. Valerie laughed softly, bobbing in time to the music as she went back to sorting.


	3. Confessions and Self Thoughts

It took two days for Valerie to work her way through the tub of paperwork that Patty had brought her. She also talked to the rest of the women, asking for any receipts or any other papers they had that hadn’t been turned over before. She was even given the number to their contact in the Mayor’s office so she could ask for paperwork regarding their pay and any budget they had.

Valerie hadn’t liked talking to Miss Jennifer. She sounded like she was trying to be polite while hissing through her teeth.

Her office had to be shifted a little to accommodate the boxes she had filled, Holtzmann helping her shift the bookcase shelves around so she could stack the boxes out of her way. The woman constantly filled the space with chatter about everything and anything, which helped relax Valerie in her presence knowing she didn’t have to talk if she didn’t want to. Holtzmann was more than willing to prattle on so long as Valerie listened to her.

By day three Valerie was used to Holtzmann’s presence and was happy to have her popping in and out of her tiny office since the noise brought comfort.

Patty also came by a lot, leaning on her desk or taking a seat on a chair she had dragged in beforehand. Unlike Holtzmann Patty was quiet and if she was in there for a period of time it was with a book.

Today though it was Abby who came into her office, knocking on the open door to get Valerie’s attention away from her computer. Looking up from where she had been inputting the figures from the paperwork.

“Hello Abby.”

“Hey Val! Got a minute to talk?”

“Yeah. Just finished adding in all of the receipts.”

“Great, anything we should know?”

“You all eat a lot of fast food. I’ll know how that affects everything once the Mayor’s office sends over the budget you’re allowed.” Valerie paused for a moment then winced. “A fax machine would be helpful.”

“When Erin goes to get more printer paper I’ll have her look at the prices. And then we can push the Mayor to buy us one.” Abby laughed at that, taking the chair that Patty had brought in. “How are you settling in?”

“Great actually.” There was no stopping the surprise in her voice. “I’m moving in fairly well and everything is finding it’s place perfectly.”

“Great!” Abby clapped happily, smiling over to her. “I’m glad you’re settling in. You seemed freaked when you first arrived.”

“Anxiety disorder.” Valerie shrugged, fidgeting with her ring for a moment. She learned in college that if she didn’t bring it up she’d just get more anxious waiting for the moment they figured it out themselves. “I’m getting better, but it’s still there.”

“No worries, if you’ve got it you got it. Seems like you’re managing it.”

“Practice and some group therapy when I was in college.” The therapy hadn’t done much but teach her how to breathe through her panic attacks, and it had been nice to be around other people who understood what she was going through.

“Well that’s good. Plus you got your toys.” Abby motioned to her desk where two more stimming toys sat. A weighted lap pad she wore during long periods of computer inputting and a tangle toy that she messed with then on the phone.

“Yeah. My mom came over once when I was working on something at home and noticed I was struggling to focus against my anxiety so she found those for me.”

“Glad she’s a part of your life.” Abby paused for a moment and shifted. “Your old boss…he called you something?”

“Ginzo. It’s a slur against Italians. Not the first time he’s said it.”

“Still.”

“I’m first generation for my very small family. It’s just my mom, grandpa and me.”

“No dad?”

Valerie shrugged slightly. “Never knew him, my mom doesn’t like talking about it so I don’t ask.”

“Hm. Well anyway Erin and I are going out to grab lunch. What would you want?”

“The receipt?”

“Funny. I’m serious. It’s a sandwich shop.”

“Tuna sandwich please?”

“Got it.” With that Abby left, leaving Valerie to go back to her paperwork. The computer Holtzmann had built was faster than the one she had at home and was able to handle a large input of data at once. By the time the two had come back Valerie had worked through their tax papers and was working on the expenses of running this place.

“Lunch call!” It was Patty who brought in her sandwich, plopping it down along with a bottle of diet Pepsi.

“Ooo a soda!” Valerie had realized she had forgotten to ask for a drink just after Abby left her office.

“I remember you having a bottle or two whenever you went to the studio.” Sitting down Patty smiled at her. “So how are you getting along with everyone, baby?”

“Holtzmann’s nice and loud, which makes me feel comfortable. Erin is nice but we haven’t spent much time with each other. Abby is a good boss.”

“Erin might argue who’s the boss.” Patty laughed, shaking her head.

“Why did you switch from hoops to studs?” Valerie asked, before biting on her lip realizing she had just blurted out the question rudely.

“Ah, Mayor’s office made a comment about us drawing attention to ourselves. Seemed like the smartest thing to do.”

“Mm. They still look good.”

“You know it, baby.”

The two fell into silence as they opened their sandwiches, Valerie eagerly digging in since she had forgotten breakfast thanks to Duchess unplugging her alarm clock. After a few moments Patty cleared her throat and gave Valerie a serious look.

“Why ain’t you freaking out about all this? I know I did.”

“I’m a little freaked. Duchess has been dealing with me ranting over the idea that if ghosts are real then what else could be. But at the end of the day all that matters is that someone knows how to deal with the bad ones.”

“Mm. Good way of looking at it.”

Valerie shrugged slightly as she opened up her soda. “I have to accept the fact there are things in this world that don’t make sense. So I try to make it one less thing to get anxious about by focusing on the brief bits of good that can come out something.”

“Does it help?”

“On some things yeah. Others…not so much.”

Patty nodded slightly, crumbling up the paper from her sandwich in her hand before standing up. “You know if you want I’m sure Abby would let you bring Duchess here.” She had met the terrier one day when the dog had a vet appointment and Valerie had to take her to the studio.

“I don’t know.” Valerie enjoyed having her puppy around, but didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry baby, I’m telling you Abby won’t mind.”

“Mm. I’ll ask later.”

“Alright.” Patty came over and hugged her gently before handing her the receipt from lunch.

“Thank you.” Valerie tapped on her keyboard and went back to the receipt list and added in the new numbers.

“This all makes sense to you?”

“Yeah. It’s easy and not as stressful. Math has one solid answer, not answers that depend on opinion.” Valerie said as she typed. “Plus people tend to leave you alone when they see you writing figures. One of my classmates during college was minoring in a writing course and every time he was working on writing assignments someone had to put in and ask what he was writing about.”

“Sounds annoying. Alright I’ll let you work, baby.” Another hug and Patty left, the door still open and allowing Valerie to hear the others discussing some project Holtzmann was working on.

When she worked in the studio she kept her door closed to block out the sounds of the people outside, not wanting to hear them as she worked. But here the music Holtzmann played whenever she was working or the sound of them discussing the project were just muffled enough by distance that Valerie didn’t get distracted from her work.

It was nice not to have to lock herself away from the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I forgot to put this on here before feel free to come bother me and Dragon at http://whoyougonnacallseries.tumblr.com/


	4. Getting Settled

Valerie had been right.

She didn’t like Miss Jennifer.

The two were currently sitting across from each other, Miss Jennifer trying to keep a pleasant smile on her face while Valerie typed the paperwork she had given her into the computer. The pay was a reasonable one, even Valerie’s pay had been included, and the budget was probably more than they needed with Holtzmann’s insistence of junkyard diving for everything.  
But there was one problem.

“Where’s the paperwork about property damage?”

“Oh, there isn’t any.”

“So it’s part of the budget?”

“No.”

Valerie stopped, looking at Miss Jennifer with a raised eyebrow. As anxious as she was all the time Valerie knew a bad deal when she dealt with it. “So they have to pay out?”

“Yep!”

“…Where’s their reimbursement paperwork, then?”

Miss Jennifer froze, her smile still in place but her eyes darting around. Valerie stared at her, fingers playing with her ring to keep her calm as she held the other’s gaze.

“I want that paperwork, Miss Jennifer.”

“I’ll….uh…yes…I’ll bring it tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Once she was gone Valerie took a deep breath and wished for one of those squeaky toys that you were supposed to pummel. Flexing her hand a few times she got up and headed out, needing a break from her work.

“Hey, baby!” Looking over Valerie noticed Patty calling her from her library. Smiling head headed over there, plopping down into one of the fancy arm chairs. “First time I’ve seen you with your hair down.”

“Hm?” Valerie blinked, picking up a strand of it. Her hair was elbow length and a deep black color, something her grandfather told her looked like her grandmother’s hair when she was young. It was also thick as all get out, usually she kept it up so it wouldn’t tickle her. “My hair tie snapped on the bus ride and I didn’t have a spare.”

“Come here.” Patty motioned Valerie over and got her to kneel between her legs facing away from her. Patty’s fingers dug into her hair and started to twist it up and off her neck. Valerie couldn’t see what was going on, just the gentle tugging and twisting from Patty’s hands. After a few moments Patty tapped her shoulder and Valerie moved away, one hand coming up to feel the braided style Patty had done her hair in.

“There you go, baby.”

“Thank you, Patty.”

“No problem. How was the talk with Jennifer?”

“…” Valerie rolled her tongue in her mouth and shrugged. “Decently. She’s annoyingly fake but at least she brought over the paperwork. A fax machine will make my life easier.”

“Because then you’d get the paperwork the same day?”

“Less talking to Miss Jennifer.”

Patty laughed softly, shaking her head. “You don’t like her huh?”

“I don’t like fake people.”

“I got you. Come on, let’s get some lunch.”

“Mm.” Following after Patty they headed downstairs and Valerie froze at the sight of someone sitting at the receptionist desk.

“Oh hey, Kevin.” Patty greeted the walking poster boy.

“Hey Patty and…Patty’s friend.”

“This is Valerie, dude. She works with us now.”

“Oh…hi!”

“Hi.” Valerie said, waving slightly and looking up at Patty with a raised eyebrow.

“Kevin is our receptionist.” Patty just shrugged slightly, shaking her head. “Come on, I’m hungry.”

As they left Valerie looked back at Kevin, almost tripping over her feet when she noticed that there was no phone line going to the phone on his desk.

“Why isn’t his phone hooked up?!”

“Because the boy is as dumb as a box of rocks.” Patty linked their arms together as they walked, shaking her head. “He’s kept around the office to be a pretty boy for Erin.”

“Does Erin not know how to use the google?”

Patty had to stop walking for a moment to start laughing at that, leaning heavily into Valerie for a moment. “Nah, she just likes having one on hand. He’s not a bad guy, just not all there.”

“Neither am I, but I still work.”

“Eh. He’s alright to have around. Plus Holtzmann has taken to sending him out on calls of greasy dudes who call up asking for us to come by because his bed is haunted.”

Valerie hummed softly and tipped her head, nodding to herself that it did make sense even if it still seemed a bit silly. He was on the payroll so she’d keep her eyes on it to make sure he wasn’t costing the women anything to much. “So where are we lunching?”

“There’s a new restaurant opening up and I wanna check it out before I tell the others about it. Not sure what food it has yet.”

Turning the corner they found the restaurant, a family style southern place, they got seated quickly and Valerie opened the menu and looked through what it had listed. Patty ordered a pot roast while Valerie ordered the fried catfish.

“Alright, this place is good.” Patty laughed as they ate. “I’m sure the others will love this.” When the waitress came back over she asked for some food to go.

Valerie carried the bags since Patty had paid and the two wandered back to the firehouse, talking about the various shops they passed. Valerie wasn’t a big shopper but she enjoyed window shopping when she was out with someone.

“Got you a burger, Kevin.” Patty said, digging through the bag and pulling out the takeout box for Kevin. Plopping it on his desk she nodded to him and went up the stairs with Valerie who was still looking back at Kevin in confusion.

“Got ya’ll food! Come on an eat!” Patty called as Valerie set the bags down and pulled the boxes out. Holtzmann appeared from behind her work table and quickly made off with one of the boxes while Erin and Abby came from upstairs where they had been napping. Taking her box of leftovers Valerie went back to her office and sat down.

Opening up her programs again Valerie went back to work, quickly inputting all of the new data into the program so she wouldn’t have to do it later. It fit in neatly and even without the reimbursement paperwork Valerie could tell the group was doing well with their money and probably would be good for any hits to their bank for a while.

Knocks on her open door caused her to look up and she saw Abby standing there. “Hello. Need something?”

“Nah. Patty mentioned you’ve got a pet.”

“Duchess, she’s a Scottish Terrier.”

“Cute! Is she a support animal?”

“No. My mom has one but I got by with stimming toys.”

“Well if you want you can bring her around. I let Kevin bring Mike so it’s only fair.”

“Mike?”

“He’s golden retriever. Usually the lug is with Kevin’s mom, but sometimes he brings him over.”

“Hm. Thanks Abby.”

“Yep!”

Valerie smiled softly as Abby left, feet wiggling under the table slightly at the idea of Duchess being there. She wasn’t a support animal, but Valerie preferred keeping her close since she was still a puppy and while she was good about being left alone, Valerie worried.

Returning to her paperwork Valerie hummed happily to herself, pleased that she was settling in so well. She also made a mental note to call her mom later that night so she could tell the woman that she got a better job.

She’d probably be more than happy for Valerie.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I use //text// to designate when someone is speaking a different language

//Hello mama.//

“English Riri. Your grandfather is in the next room.”

Valerie winced slightly at that, sighing. Her grandfather Loreto was on in years and had started to show signs of dementia. She had gone to help her mother find a nursing home for him since neither of them could take care of him. Valerie loved him but her anxiety was troublesome enough just watching her dog. And her mother Rosalinda had epilepsy which was hard enough raising her daughter and she had only now gotten a service dog.

“Is he doing any better?”

“Somewhat. He still has his moments, but yesterday we sat down and were able to have a conversation.”

“Anything good?”

“We talked about him going to a nursing home. He wanted to argue, but father has always been a smart one and realized that I was right. Neither of us can take care of him. He just wanted a promise we’d visit.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Valerie shifted on her couch, laying down as she spoke to her mother.

“He’s just worried. You know how some families are. They put someone in the nursing home and forget about them.”

“Wretched.”

“Mm.” Over the cell Valerie would hear her mother’s office chair squeak. She must’ve been in the middle of her transcriptions when Valerie called. “How are you though Riri? You sound happier.”

“I am. I got fired.”

“Valerie!”

“It’s not bad mama. He fired me for being friends with Patty after Patty punched him for calling me a slur.”

“Hm. Still I don’t like you being out of work.”

“Oh no. I got a new job.”

“…Now you’re just trying to confuse me.”

Valerie laughed softly, shaking her head. “Patty got me a job with her.”

“Do you think working at the MTA is a good thing Ri? Your anxiety.”

“Oh no. Patty got a new job as well. Look up Ghostbusters.”

Tapping of keys sounded for a moment followed by some clicking. “Oh my.”

“What did you find?”

“Now I’m really concerned. Valerie you can’t seriously think I’m happy with you giving up accounting and fighting these things?”

“I’m still an accountant mama. I just work with them.”

“Mm…alright. So long as you’re not out in the field wielding one of those…what even is it?”

“Proton lasers.”

“…Alright then. I don’t want you messing with one of those.”

“Yes mama.”

“That’s my baby. Hold on.” Rosalinda must’ve pulled the phone away from her face because her voice suddenly became muffled. After a few moments of talking she came back. “Your grandfather is having a lucid moment. He wants to talk.”

“Alright.” The phone was shuffled over and Valerie waited until the noises stopped. //Hi pappy!//

//Hello my little cubby. How are you?//

//Good pappy. Got a new job.//

//Does this mean I can go shove my sabre into your old boss’ face?//

//Pappy!// Valerie couldn’t help but laugh.

//I’m serious cubby. Or you can stick your epeé in his face.//

//It’s a practice epeé pappy.//

//Still will hurt.//

There was a slight commotion on the other end of the line before her grandfather came back.  
//Your mom says I’m not allowed to encourage you to shove your sword into someone’s face. Personally I think she’s just jealous we got the good ones while she had the foil.//

Valerie laughed softly, hearing her mom and grandfather arguing for a few moments before her mother got her cell back.

“Don’t stick your epeé in his face.”

“I won’t mama.”

“Speaking of our fencing blades have you thought about going back to it? If you’re in a happier job then maybe you’ll have the energy after?”

“I’ve only been at this new one for a couple days. I mean I’m happier but since I’m still settling in my energy is all over the place.”

“Hm. Well think about it okay baby? I know how happy you were when we all went fencing at the gym.”

It had always been a family outing whenever they fencing. Each of them used a different blade which meant they had a different style, but they would watch each other’s matches and practice a little together when they had the chance. But when Valerie went into the job at the studio she didn’t have the energy to go anymore and then Loreto’s mind started to go.

“Has he chosen a home yet?”

“He’s liking the one we went to last week. So that may be his choice.”

“Mm.”

“Alright baby I have to finish these reports. You be good yeah?”

“Yes mama.”

“Love you.”

“Love you to.”

After they hung up Valerie got up from her couch and walked over to her cabinet. In almost a place of honor was her practice epeé probably covered in a little bit of dust. She pulled it down and wiped it off with her shirt, holding it out to feel the balance.

Her mom was right, working with Patty and the others probably meant she’d have the energy to go back and practice again. Her grandfather was the only one who went to tournaments, but that was when he was younger. Her mother’s condition kept her out of them and Valerie chose not to go to keep her stress levels down.

Moving to a more open space on her floor she took the ready position and practiced a few lunges and steps across the floor. The tip made contact with her wall a few times, using it as her opponent for the match.

Duchess was laying on her bed watching Valerie dart around like a fool, huffing slightly.

“Mommy’s having fun.” Valerie hushed the dog before falling out of position. “And my mom’s right.”

Putting her epeé back into place she grabbed her cell again and searched through the contacts, finding the name she wanted. Clicking on it she listened to it ring a few times before it got answered.

“Vallie?” Charles Timothy had been her epeé instructor for a few years now.

“Hey Charlie.”

“Been awhile since I’ve heard from you. What’s going on?”

“I got a new job.”

“Wonderful! Is it better?”

“Yeah, loads. I like the people and I’m making good money.”

“Great, great. So what brought on the call?”

“Well once I’m finished settled I…do you still have time for me to come by and practice?”

“Vallie you didn’t have to ask. You could’ve just come in with your gear and I would’ve put you through your drills.”

“I just worry.”

“I know Val. But yeah, swing by whenever you want and we’ll see what you lost by not practicing.”

“Thanks Charlie.”

“I can’t wait to see you again Val.”

“Same.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget you can find Dragon and I at http://whoyougonnacallseries.tumblr.com/


	6. Fencing Practice

It took a week to settle into her new job, especially since getting the paperwork from the Mayor’s office was like pulling teeth. Miss Jennifer stalled on any paperwork that would’ve forced them to take responsibility for the Ghostbusters.

On one hand Valerie could understand their hesitation, especially after Holtzmann blew up something that rocked the entire building.

On the other she also realized that the Mayor’s office was hoping to draw no attention to the fact they were supporting them.

At the end of the week Valerie was glad she had decided to go back to fencing. She wasn’t good with stress and Charlie always made sure she worked herself to the point that she forgot whatever was making her frustrated.

It was quiet in the firehouse at the moment, Valerie’s typing and Duchess’ snoring the only sounds that she could hear. The Busters had been called out on a job and Kevin was out on the finals of his hide and seek tournament leaving Valerie alone as she finished up the paperwork. After this it would just be a matter of updating any information as it came.

Her fencing gear was tucked up against the wall so she could go to the gym right after she finished working. There had been some looks but before anyone could ask they had to get to get moving to the bust.

“We’re home!” Came the excited yell from Holtzmann as the door slammed open. Valerie jumped slightly and had to delete a few numbers that got entered in. “Val! Come check out Erin.”

Valerie got out from behind her desk and came out of her office, Duchess bouncing along with her as they came out and stopped short at the sight of Erin. The poor woman was covered head to toe in a green slime and seemed so done with the world.

“I..I can get you some towels?” Valerie offered, feeling sorry for Erin.

“No it’s alright. I’ll just go upstairs and shower.” Erin sighed softly, pulling a strand of her hair out of her face.

“You can take the rest of the day off Val.” Abby said from her work desk, most of the women giving Erin space.

“Are you sure?”

‘Yeah go ahead, we’re pretty much done for the day.”

“Alright.” Valerie went back to her office and picked up her bag of fencing gear.

As she came back in Patty was also getting ready to leave and raised an eyebrow at her bag. “Alright girl I gotta ask, what’s in the bag?”

“Fencing gear. I’m going back to practice.”

“I didn’t know you fenced.”

“I used to before I worked at the music studio. Since I’m not stressed here I’m going back to it.”

“Mind if I tag along?” Patty smiled as she came over to Valerie. “I can watch Duchess while you practice.”

“Sure. It’ll be boring since I’m sure Charlie’s just gonna make me do drills.”

Hanging Duchess’ leash over to Patty the two headed to the bus stop. It was a bit of a ride between the firehouse and her old gym so they passed the time talking about the bust that Patty had just done.

“Does Erin always end up covered in slime?”

“Oh yeah. Ever since the start she was always the one that got hit.”

“That has to be annoying.”

“You’ve got no idea.” Patty laughed, shaking her head.

At the gym Valerie went to the office and knocked on the door. “Hey Charlie!”

“Valerie!” Charles was a short man, just barely looking Valerie in the eyes, but he was a talented fencer and a good friend to Valerie. He came over and hugged her tightly. “How you doing girl?”

“Good good. This is Patty, she’s a friend of mine.”

‘Hello, you here to join the fencing club?”

“Nah dude, I’m just watching.”

“That’s fine to.” Charles went to go clear up the fencing spot while Valerie took Patty to the changing room so she could get into gear.

“How long have you been fencing?”

“Since grade school. My grandfather was a champion in Italy, and my mom did it as one of the few sports that didn’t mess with her too much.”

“Damn. I can’t imagine having to leave something that much in your blood.”

Valerie paused as she tugged her breeches on, sighing softly. “I didn’t want to. I just didn’t have the energy anymore. I promised myself I would, but…”

“It just didn’t happen.”

Valerie shrugged as she finished dressing, popping her dahlia piercings out so they wouldn’t catch on her mask.

“Alright one last thing. Explain those.” Patty said, pointing at the piercings as Valerie tucked them the pocket of her bag.

“During college one of my roommates had an uncle who owned a tattoo and piercing parlor. For graduation we were given a tattoo and piercing for free. I chose dahlia piercings and a wrist tattoo.” Pulling her glove back she showed off the simple heart outline tattoo on her wrist.

“Nice.”

“Yep. Come on Charlie is probably getting impatient.”

The two left the changing room and heading to where Charles was waiting for them dressed in his instructor gear.

“Alright Vallie. You ready?”

“Mm.” Patty went to the benches to watch with Duchess in her lap. Valerie stepped up to the line as Charles went to his.

“Alright. To five.” One of his other students came over to referee the match and two sat down to judge. “Good?”

“Good.”

“En garde.” The two shifted to their positions. “Fence.”

Valerie had always played more defensively in her matches, preferring to watch and wait for the other person to mess up. It’s why Charles suggested she take epée over foil or sabre. Charles on the other hand was more aggressive and would come after her.

Backing up quickly as he started in on her she waited and dodged one of his attacks, her own blade snapping out and catching him.

“Point!” came the call from the judge.

“You’re still good Vallie.” Charles laughed as they retook their start position.

“I do remember somethings.”

The next few matches were slower, Charles obviously now weary of her again since she obviously remembered his lessons. He scored two hits and she scored a double on the fourth match, keeping her lead. They kept at it, on the fifth match they both hit, keeping their tie.

Eventually they had to call it since the students had to return to their homes. Charles agreed to the tie, laughing softly.

“I’m glad you’re still so good. Makes me happy to know some of my drills went into that head of yours.” He laughed as she pulled off her mask.

“You were a ruthless teacher.” Valerie smiled, saluting him and the referee.

“Alright. Go get changed up and we’ll look at scheduling you in.”

“Yep.” Patty followed her back into the changing room and helped her undo her ties.

“Alright that was pretty epic. I’ve never seen fencing that close before.”

“Epée is easier for newcomers to follow.” Valerie said as she tugged at her jacket to pull it off. “I’ve watched my mom’s or grandfather’s matches before and it’s harder to follow since it moves so fast. Since your entire body is the target in épée you typically move slower.”

“Still epic to watch. You looked like you were having a lot of fun.”

“I was. I loved doing this when I was a kid, and apparently I’ve been waiting for an excuse to come back to it.”

“I can see why baby.”

“Mm. You wanna come to my place for lunch? As a thanks for coming here.”

“You don’t gotta thank me. But I’d be happy to come.”


	7. Starting to settle in

Pushing the door open Valerie let Duchess off her lead so the dog could run around the apartment. “Welcome to my home.” Thankfully her mom’s epilepsy meant both women kept their houses nearly spotless just to make sure there was nothing she could hurt herself on during a fit.

“Looks great baby.” Patty took a seat on her couch while Valerie went to freshen up.

Changing into sweats and a tank top Valerie came back out, putting her dahlia piercings back in as she wandered into the kitchen. “Want anything in particular?” She called out as she opened the fridge door

“Not really. I don’t know if you do take out or make your own.” Patty came into the kitchen with her and leaned over her to look into her fridge with her. “What’s in the foil?”

“Left over torta rustica from my mom. Want some?”

“I’ll try anything once.” Patty laughed as Valerie pulled out the wrapped food and set it on the counter to cut off some pieces of it.

“Do you want it warmed?”

“Does it matter?”

“With torta rustica, not really. It’s preference thing. My mom eats it only when it’s hot, I like it cold and my grandfather won’t touch it if it’s not room temp.”

Patty laughed softly as Valerie handed over the plate for her. “I’ll try it cold first.”

“Alright.” Valerie cut herself some of it as well and put on a pot of coffee as Patty went to sit down and eat. She followed her out after a few moments with two cups of coffee and her own plate of food.

“Liking it?”

“Your mom is a bomb cook. I gotta ask though, who’s the girl in the photo?” With her fork Patty pointed to a photo that sat on the table near the couch. It showed a young woman in a summer dress with a big floppy hat. It was also in black and white and set against the beach.

“My grandma Orsola. She died when my mom was six. It’s why they moved to America.”

“Oh, I’m sorry girl. What happened?”

“Don’t know. Mama can’t remember her and when I asked pappy he didn’t answer.” Valerie shrugged slightly as she ate. “And I don’t know how to get in contact with any of the family still in Italy. Mama does, but she doesn’t talk to them.”

“Issues?”

“Religious differences. Mama is an atheist.”

“Ah.”

Valerie shrugged again and went back to eating her food. The two of them settled into the couch with the food and Duchess came around sniffing for anything that might’ve been dropped.  
“She thinks she’s sneaky doesn’t she?” Patty laughed, tapping Duchess with her foot.

“She does. Sadly it sometimes works.” Duchess looked up and between the two of them before sitting down and began begging with little whines. “Duchess you’ve got your own food. Go.”  
Duchess whined before huffing and marching off. “Brat dog.”

Patty laughed softly, shaking her head. “At least she listens.”

“Mm. My mom had her trained before she gave her to me. Said it would help.”

Patty nodded slightly and Valerie took her plate since she was done eating. Taking them to the kitchen she started to wash the dishes out of habit. Patty wandered in a moment later and took over drying the dishes after bumping Valerie’s hip with her own.

Once the dishes were done and put away Valerie poured more coffee for the two of them and yawned softly. She always got a little tired after fencing and since she hadn’t done it in a while she was feeling it worse.

“Need me to head home?”

“No no...” Valerie was cut off by a yawn “I’m always like this after practice. When I was a kid I’d take a nap after practice but I know if I try that now I’ll fall asleep and completely wreck my schedule.”

Patty nodded as they moved to sit back onto the couch, Valerie depending on her coffee to try and keep her away. It wasn’t helping and she felt her eyes dropping every so often. Another yawn came through her and she felt herself shift and start leaning into Patty.

“You go on and nap girl. I’ll wake you up in like an hour.” Patty said, taking Valerie’s cup from her so she didn’t drop it.

Valerie couldn’t argue, too tired and steadily falling asleep. She slumped into Patty and before she fell asleep she felt her arm go around her and hold her close.

She didn’t know if it was an hour later or more when she was shaken back awake. Yawning and blinking Valerie sat upright, wondering when she had laid down when she had fallen asleep against Patty’s shoulder. Looking around she noticed that Patty was watching a documentary.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Hour and a half. I let you get some extra rest.” Patty said, rubbing her back slightly. “Feeling better girl?”

“Yeah.” Valerie yawned softly, rolling her shoulders. “Little out of it, but that happens after my naps. I hope you weren’t too bored.”

“Nah I’m good. Found the history channel and kinda zoned out watching it.”

“Mm.”

Standing up Valerie yawned and stretched, checking the time. “I’ve got to take Duchess for her walk. You can come if you want.”

“Sure!” Valerie pulled on her shoes and whistled for Duchess who came tearing out of her bedroom and bounced around the front door. “Excited little lady.”

“She’s always excited.” Attaching Duchess’ leash to her collar she opened the door so Patty could head out and she followed after with Duchess.

There wasn’t a park near Valerie’s apartment so every so often she would take Duchess to one, but for normal walks she just went around the neighborhood. It was a quiet place, Valerie was sure she was the youngest person in her apartment building, and the rest of the buildings were the same thing.

“So what’s the dirty secret?” Patty asked as they walked.

“Hm?”

“You live in a good neighborhood, have a good family, fence, have a cute puppy and can do large sums in your head. Where’s the dirt?” Valerie laughed as Patty nudged her, shaking her head.

“I’m anxious as hell?”

“Eh that’s more a tic. Dirt like you’re gross, which isn’t true, or something like that?”

“Hmm…I broke up with a guy because I wanted to date his sister?”

“You didn’t.” Patty was laughing at that, leaning on Valerie for a moment.

“Okay I didn’t break up with him and then ask his sister out within a night. But yeah once his sister showed an interest in me I dropped him. I mean he wasn’t a bad guy, just…boring. And that’s coming from someone who decided to work with numbers for a living.”

“I’m sure you had your reasons for wanting the sister.”

“She was a sweetheart who was in my math class and we had similar interests. Her brother was a good guy, but no similar interests.” Valerie shrugged, stopping as Duchess sniffed around the ground for a moment before deciding to move on.

“Hm. At least it sounds like you had fun.”

“They were good people.”

“What ended it?”

“College. I stayed in New York and she moved to California. No idea what’s she’s getting up to. She’s a bit of a technophobe and never had anything like a cellphone or a computer.”

“Damn. Never knew anyone like that.”

“I didn’t know until graduation when she told me we had to break up because she didn’t want to be sending letters back and forth. When I asked after her cell number she told me she never had one.” Valerie sighed softly.

“You never asked before?”

“We’d only been dating for about four months before graduation. Since we saw each other every day I didn’t think I needed it.”

“Hm.” The rest of the walk was done in silence as they headed back to Valerie’s apartment.

“Alright boo I gotta get back to the firehouse. See ya tomorrow right?”

“Yep!”

Waving as Patty walked away Valerie let Duchess back into the apartment, humming softly to herself. She was more relaxed than she had been in a long while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the massive twitch in updates. I've been feeling like hell the last two days and my body finally took over and held me hostage in sleep and even when I was awake it was a struggle to write. Hopefully I can get the next chapters out on time.


	8. Attacks again

By the end of her first month with the Busters Valerie was fairly settled. Both the women in the group and going back to fencing helped Valerie find a balance she hadn’t had since high school. Her anxiety was there of course, but it was at a slightly more manageable level then it had been in a long while.

Though Miss Jennifer was threatening to bounce her back into the upper levels of stress.

“Please do not make me do math over the phone to prove you wrong.” Valerie was glad she had invested in a Bluetooth some months ago since she was currently pacing her office. “The numbers are off in three places. And it’s nothing I’ve edited they’re all off from the original paperwork you sent me.”

“Now Miss Valerie you’re being aggressive.”

“You said I did my math wrong. I don’t appreciate my math being called into question.”

“Well…I….yes. Anyway Miss Valerie I’m sure this is just a matter of misunderstanding. Where are the numbers off?”

“In section 2E of the reimbursement paperwork, the limit for how much they can be reimbursed is limited to five hundred dollars a month when in section 2A it clearly states there’s no limit to it. In section 4D in the payroll paperwork I’m seeing a ‘commission’ line despite the fact we’re all listed as ‘government employees’ on the rest of the paperwork. And section 1F, which is all about benefits, I’m seeing that none of the numbers make sense for a group of six.”

Clearly Miss Jennifer hadn’t been expecting her to instantly jump in with the correct forms and numbers. There was a notably pause on the other end of the phone and Valerie grabbed her tangler toy off the table. As she played with it she could hear Miss Jennifer started and stopping to explain what was going on.

“I…uh….”

“Will be sending the revised paperwork.”

“Yes…that…uh…”

“Goodbye Miss Jennifer.” Hanging up the call Valerie sighed and braced herself against her desk, doing a deep breathing exercise she was taught in fencing. She was shaking a little from getting aggresive and from her math being called into question. Valerie had never been good at being questioned, something her high school teachers had actually tried to help her with.

Valerie was jerked from her breathing by a sudden loud bang from the main room, causing her to jump out of her skin. Rushing out to the room she was met with a wave of smoke that caused her to cough and stumble back.

“Val! Don’t come out here baby! Holtzy blew something up!” Patty’s voice came from the other side of the smoke.

“I can see that! What blew up?!”

“Nothing important!” Holtzmann’s voice was laughing as Valerie waved the smoke away and came over to the work table. The ‘nothing important’ looked like a gutted engine that was still smoking and the explosion had covered Holtzmann in soot.

“Are you okay Holtzmann?” Valerie asked, coming over to check on Holtzmann.

“Yeah!”

“Something just blew up in your face!”

“Yeah and it was awesome!”

Valerie just blinked at Holtzmann and sighed softly, shaking her head. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yep!”

Patty was laughing in her corner of the room, waving some of the smoke away. “She always does this. Apparently blowing it up was the only way to get it to work.”

“Good thing there’s no fire otherwise the sprinklers would be going off.” Valerie said, going to the window and opening them to air the room out. Going back to her office she grabbed her notebook to help fan the smoke out.

“And that Erin ain’t here to yell at you again Holtzy.” Patty pointed out and Valerie and Holtzmann fanned the smoke away.

“That to...hey Val why is your hand shaking?” Holtzmann paused and stared at Valerie’s hand. Glancing down at it herself Valerie clenched her fist and took a deep breath.

“Miss Jennifer and the Mayor’s office were stressing me out. It kinda feels like they’re trying to screw us.” Valerie said, taking deep breaths. A shaking hand was usually her warning sign that if she didn’t focus on something else she was going to have a panic attack.

The idea of the Mayor’s office for some reason purposefully trying to gimp them was terrifying.

“Hey…hey come here baby.” Patty’s voice brought Valerie back to some attention and she realized that her breathing was started to become short and rapid. Patty lead her to sit down and slipped her chewing necklace into Valerie’s mouth. Valerie’s teeth clenched down onto it as she started to rock back and forth in the chair.

“Is she okay?” Holtzmann’s voice sounded like it was coming through cotton that had been stuffed into Valerie’s ears. She couldn’t answer for herself, jaw clenching as Patty took her hands even as Valerie’s fingers gripped her tightly. Valerie kept rocking back and forth as her mind latched and kept repeating the idea that the Mayor’s office was trying to screw them.

“She should be. It’s a panic attack. Give her some time.”

It took about twenty minutes for Valerie to come back to herself, the rocking slowing down and her necklace falling from her mouth. “Sorry.”

“It happens baby. Not the first time I’ve handled this.” Patty said, helping her tip forward slightly so her forehead was resting on Patty’s shoulder. “Deep breaths.”

Valerie nodded slightly, taking deep breaths as her flexed her fingers. Her jaw ached from clenching it so tightly so she stretched her jaw out a few times to try and relax it.

“Val?”

“I’m good Holtzmann. Minor panic attack.”

“I kinda figured that.” Pulling away from Patty Valerie noted that Holtzmann was kneeling down next to the chair keeping an eye on her. “Any particular trigger?”

“Clerical errors in the paperwork that could be an honest mistake and my mind snapped to the worst possible outcome.” Valerie muttered, feeling a little silly now. She felt her cheeks blush slightly.

“Hey boo it’s understandable.” Patty, hugged her close for a moment. “Your brain just went twisted for a moment. Holtzy blows shit up, you just need to sit for a moment.”

“Yeah! Nothing wrong with having a twisted moment or two.” Holtzmann smiled, patting Valerie’s leg before she went to deal with her mess.

Patty helped Valerie up from her chair. “We’re going to take a walk Holtzy, don’t burn the place down.”

“No promises.”

The pair of them walked the block, Valerie leaning heavily into Patty since she was still a little out of it from her panic attack. Patty’s hand was rubbing her back gently as her breathing finally settled into a normal pattern.

“You doing better baby?”

“Mmhm. I hate those attacks.”

“Still, it’s been awhile since you’ve had one, right?”

“A month and a half. My last one was right before I took time off from work to help my mom. And then when I came back I started working with ya’ll.”

That caused Patty to make a tutting sound. “That can’t have been healthy boo.”

“I think I’m going to switch to just emailing Miss Jennifer. Something about her voice sets me on edge.”

“Good plan.”

The walk was finished in silence, Patty’s arm around Valerie’s waist while her own wrapped around hers. Coming back to the firehouse they separated as they climbed the stairs, Patty gently nudging Valerie as they entered the main room.

“If Jennifer gives you any trouble just give the phone to me and I’ll put her straight. Or I’ll sic Holtzy on her.”

“Am I being offered as an attack dog?”

“Against Jennifer from the Mayor’s if she tries to screw with Val again.”

“I can do that.”

Valerie laughed softly, shaking her head. “Alright you two. I’m going to finish up my paperwork. No more explosions alright?”

“Right!”

Valerie was able to get good chunk of redoing the paperwork to work around the errors in the Mayor’s paperwork along with sending Miss Jennifer an email with copies of the incorrect paperwork so there was no way of saying she hadn’t been told.

Overall the panic attack didn’t set her back as much as it used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again Valerie's anxiety plus her panic attacks are largely based off of my own and how I respond after one


	9. Plays and Kisses

Today was the first day Valerie ever closed her door to the others. It was the last day of the month and she wanted to sit down and get all of the paperwork out of the way for the next month. She apologized to the others since they were so used to her having it open, but she really needed no distractions as she worked.

Door closed, weighted lap pillow on her legs, and her necklace in her teeth Valerie focused on nothing but her work. The clicking of her keys was the only sound in her office since she had left Duchess at home knowing she’d be too focused on her work to take the pup out for a walk. While she worked throughout the month to make sure everything was in place at the end of the month when she worked at the studio she always went through and made sure everything added up and finished up anything that she hadn’t done before.

It also kept everything in line for when taxes came to call.

The Mayor’s office had sent over the revised paperwork the day before so she had to add that in since she spent the entire yesterday going over every number in it to make sure it was right. Valerie didn’t want another surprise like she had gotten when she noticed the mistakes the first time. Apparently being called out like that had caused them to realize they couldn’t pull one over on her.

A knock on her door caused her to jump slightly and she blinked as she focused on it for a moment. “Yes?”

“Can I come in baby?” Patty’s voice came from the other side of the door. The door opened slightly and one of Patty’s hands came in, shaking a bag that held a sandwich in it. “I brought food.”

“Come on it Patty.” Valerie laughed, letting her necklace drop from her teeth and moved her weight off of her lap.

Patty came in and handed her the bag. “Got you some lunch, the receipt is in the bag as well.”  
“Thank you.” Opening the bag she pulled out the sandwich and peeled the paper off. “Ooo, bacon.”

“Yep.” Taking the seat Patty smiled. “How’s it coming?”

“Good, the revised paperwork fits in way better than it had before which really does help.”

“And proves they were trying to screw us since the math was off.”

“That to.”

That got her a laugh from Patty as Valerie ate her sandwich. “Need anything?”

“I’m good. A little fuzzy since I was so focused on my computer.”

“You need to take a break baby.”

“I am. I’m eating.”

“I mean a real break.”

Valerie shrugged slightly, finishing half of her sandwich. “I’m halfway done. It won’t take much longer.”

“Baby girl it’s two in the afternoon. You started at eight.”

“What?” Checking her computer she blinked at the time. “Wow.” She had been working for six hours.

“Yeah baby. Come on, let’s take a walk.”

Valerie nodded and stood up, groaning slightly as her back popped in several places. “Okay, yeah I need the walk.”

Patty laughed again and wrapped her arm around Valerie’s shoulder. “I’m taking Valerie out on a break ya’ll!”

There were a few calls as the two left, Valerie humming happily once they were out in fresh air. “So where are we going?”

“Just a walk boo, you need it.”

The walked in silence for a few moments, Patty’s arm staying around Valerie’s shoulders. Eventually they got halfway through the walk and Patty squeezed her for a moment.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

Patty chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “I got these tickets for a play this weekend. It’s for the return of Cats.”

“I loved that musical!”

“So did I. Well I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?”

“Sure!”  


Patty smiled and squeezed her again, laughing softly. “That’s great baby!”

Valerie smiled softly and wrapped her arm around Patty’s waist, hugging her back.  
They came back to the firehouse and Valerie went back to her work, finishing it out the paperwork before the day was up.

The rest of the week passed in ease, Valerie giving them a run down on their current finances at the start of the month and explaining what the paperwork she had gotten from the office had meant.

By the weekend morning Valerie was finding a rhythm in her job and carefully putting the money aside to buy herself a printer that had fax and scanner functions as well.

“Hey baby!” Patty leaned into her office as Valerie finished her work. “Ready for our date?”

“Yep, let me just save this and I’ll be right there.”

“Take your time.”

Saving the work Valerie stood from the desk and stretched with a slight yawn. Thankfully Patty had gotten an early showing otherwise she feared she’d fall asleep halfway through the show.  
“Alright, let’s go.” Grabbing her coat the two of them headed out and onto the bus.

Coming to the theater Valerie blinked slightly. “Crowded place.”

“Yeah. Is that gonna freak you?”

“Crowds were never one of my triggers.”

“That’s good.” Wrapping her arm around her waist Patty lead her through the crowd and inside the building where they handed over their tickets.

The seats were fairly close to the stage and almost in the center. Thankfully the two of them had gotten there early enough to get to the seats with only a few people needing to move. Settling in Valerie gave a happy smile, almost humming in joy.

“Excited?” Patty laughed, one arm going up and around the back of Valerie’s chair.

“Yep!”

“Good.”

When the musical started Valerie had to restrain herself from squealing as she clapped, but she did bounce a little in her seat. Patty just smiled to her and settled more into her seat, arm still over Valerie’s seat. As it continued on Valerie drifted more to lean into Patty, one hand taking hers and her head settling on her shoulder.

At the end Valerie was happily singing the songs in a low voice on the bus ride to her apartment, still leaning into Patty.

“I’m glad you had a good time baby.”

“I did! I loved that musical growing up. My mom wanted to take me but we could never save up the money.”

“Well than glad I could take you to it.” Patty walked her up to her apartment, arm around her waist again as the two bumped hips into each other.

At her door Patty tugged her into a hug. “We should do this again sometime.”

“Yeah! Next time though I pay.”

“Good luck with that.”

Valerie laughed and shook her head. “It’s not fair for you to pay for it all Patty.”

“I can try.” Patty laughed with her and bumped their foreheads together.

“Mm. I’ll find a way to pay.”

“I’m sure you will.” Patty was quiet for a moment, their foreheads still leaning against each other as they hugged. As she sighed Valerie felt one of Patty’s hands rub her back. “Night boo.”

“Ni-“Valerie was cut off by Patty kissing her gently. Freezing slightly in her arms Valerie blinked in shock a few times as Patty pulled away from her.

“Sleep tight girl.”

“Y-yeah, you too.” Valerie was still in shock at the kiss.

Patty nodded and left as Valerie stumbled into her apartment. Leaning against her closed door she lifted a hand to her lips. “What just happened?”


	10. Maternal love

Valerie was still confused by morning and a bit thankful she had taken today off. Sighing as she finished her breakfast she clicked her tongue and went to get dressed, forgoing her usual jeans and blouse for shorts and a tank top. Tugging on her running shoes she mentally thanked the fate that she and her mother lived within running distance of each other. While both women enjoyed their privacy it was medically more sound for Valerie to remain in a good distance from her mother. Grabbing Duchess’ leash she whistled for the dog.

“Come on girl, let’s go see Gram-gram” Her mom hated when she called her that, but Duchess knew who she was talking about. The terrier bounced happily at the door as Valerie attached her leash to her collar. Hitting the street she set off in a heavy jog, Duchess running to keep up. She usually didn’t run the terrier but every so often Duchess enjoyed racing along the streets.

It was still early enough that not many people were out in the streets as she jogged, her hair thankfully pulled back from her face into a braid so it wasn’t whipping into her face. The streets buzzed past her and soon enough she was turning the corner onto her mom’s street. Pausing for a moment so she and Duchess could catch their breaths she sighed, feeling a little sticky from sweat. Apparently her jog had turned into a run as she had gone. Wiping her forehead she took deep breath and headed down the street, hopping up the stairs to her mom’s apartment.

Thankfully she kept the key to her mom’s place so she didn’t have to buzz in. As the door swung behind her she unhooked Duchess from her lead so the dog could race up the stairs to her mom’s door. Opening it she let the door rush in.

“Mom? Pappy?” She called out as she hung up the leash at the door.

“Kitchen dear! Your pappy is with a nurse spending the day at one of the homes.” Rosalinda’s voice called from the kitchen as Duchess’ tags jangled from there as well.

“Hello mama.” Valerie said, coming into the kitchen and watching her mom mix something in a bowl. “What’s making?”

“Cookies dear. Now what’s wrong?”

“Mom?” Nothing got past her mother as Rosalinda’s face turned to her. The two of them looked like each other, and often caused confusion between people over if they were sisters or mother and daughter.

“Don’t play silly. You only come running or jogging here when something has got your mind going and it’s not your anxiety.”

Valerie sucked on her tongue for a moment before shrugging. “It’s nothing. I’m just _being_ silly.”

“Of course you are dear. That’s part of your charm.”

Grumbling Valerie took a seat on the counter, feeling twelve again and discussing crushes while her mom cooked. “It’s a girl.”

“Oh good. It’s been too long since you’ve decided to go after someone.”

“That’s the thing. I didn’t go after her.”

“So someone decided to come after you? Interesting. Usually you’re the hunter.”

“Hm? No I’m not.”

“Riri the last two times you dated you were the one who went after them. You courted them and you asked them out.” Rosalinda handed over the spoon as she finished mixing before flouring her hands to roll out the cookies. “You’re not used to being the person being asked out.”

“She didn’t really ask me.” Valerie muttered around the spoon.

“Then what happened?”

“She took me out on a date and then kissed me.”

“Oh my.” Rosalinda looked like she was about to laugh. “How surprising for you.”

“Not funny.”

“Very funny. You look so confused.” Finishing the cookies she popped them into the oven she took the now clean spoon from Valerie and tossed it with the bowl into the sink. “She must be something.”

“…” Valerie didn’t answer, following her to the living room where Duchess and Zeus, her mother’s seizure dog, were laying out on the floor.

“Oh my my, must be very special.” Rosalinda said as they sat down together. “Tell me.”

“It’s Patty.”

Rosalinda paused, sighing softly and petting Valerie’s braid. “That’s good isn’t it? She’s already a friend of yours.”

“That’s just it! She’s my friend and this was…”

“Completely out of left field.”

“Yeah. I didn’t expect it.”

“Isn’t that the best?” Rosalinda twisted Valerie’s hair around her hand. “I mean you do care for her?”

“I do! But…gah!”

“You do but you’re not used to being taken off guard.”

“Shush!”

Rosalinda laughed, leaning away from her daughter to avoid being swatted at. “It’s cute!”

Valerie huffed and leaned back against the couch, rubbing her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you need to do? It’s not like she’ll get pissy if you turn her down.” Rosalinda leaned back to her daughter, tugging the girl to lean against her. “If you don’t want her just say so.”

“I...don’t know.”

“You never know unless you try as cliché as that sounds.” Valerie shifted so she was laying against her mother heavily. “From what you’ve told me Patty seems like a nice girl.”

“She is.”

“Then it shouldn’t be an issue. Just talk to her. Tell her you were surprised and need to ask what the hell the kiss was about. Just don’t be rude about it. I raised you to be polite.”

“I know.”

“I know you know. I’m just reminding you.” Rosalinda spoke against her forehead, lips brushing her skin as she talked. “You’ll be fine baby.”

“Mm.” Valerie hid her face into her mother’s neck slightly.

“And if you’re not fine then I’ll do a job search for you.”

“You always said I couldn’t run from my problems.”

“It’s not running once you’re an adult. It a career move.”

The two laughed softly, Rosalinda rubbing her back and humming softly once they quieted down. “Just talk to her baby. I know it’s hard, but it needs to be done.”

“Yes mama.”

Rosalinda sighed against her forehead “She’ll accept whatever you say baby. From what you’ve told me Patty is a reasonable woman and won’t bite your head off.”

“I know, but I worry.”

“Yes you do. Just breath and talk. You’re not good at talking but I’m sure she’ll understand.”

“Thanks.” Valerie groused, glaring at her mom slightly.

“I’m your mom. I’m allowed to be blunt.”

They lapsed into silence, Rosalinda still rubbing her back. “So what was the date?”

“We went to see Cats.”

Valerie was almost thrown off of the couch by her mother when the woman jerked rapidly. “Cats is back on the stage? Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“The kiss seemed more important.”

“You need to sort your priorities.”

“Mom!”

“I’m joking baby.” Rosalinda laughed, pulling out her cellphone and clicking around. “Since you’ve already gone to see it you don’t mind if I go see it alone.”

“Go for it.”

“Good.” A ringing in the kitchen caused her mother to bounce up and hurried to rescue the cookies from the oven. “Cookies are done. Come get some.”

“Yes mama.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just need your mom


	11. Real Date

The next workday Valerie had she sighed softly, tightening her ponytail a few times in frustration. Her talk with her mom had helped a little, but she was still feeling hesitant about talking to Patty. She just didn’t want to risk losing a friendship. Granted she also had to sit down last night and think over if she wanted to be in a relationship with Patty.

It wasn’t that she wouldn’t mind it, but she also didn’t want to put Patty on edge with her anxiety. While Patty could help her when they were friends sometimes the people she dated in the past expected her to magically get better and not be anxious anymore. She doubted Patty would be like that, but her anxiety kept reminding her about the times when it did happen.

She was one of the first in the fire station after Abby who Valerie was pretty sure lived there. Going to her office she sat down and got to work on some projects she had set aside to keep her hands busy whenever she had the time. Time slipped away from her as she worked until someone knocking on her open door brought her attention away from her computer.

Patty was standing there, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Valerie blushed brightly for a moment before clearing her throat and nodding to the chair that was in her office. Patty closed the door behind her and sat down, the two staring at each other for a moment before Patty gave a chuckle.

“Alright girl, go ahead and yell if you want to.”

“Yell?”

“Yeah, for just randomly kissing you the day before. Go ahead and yell at me. I won’t say anything.” Patty despite the smile seemed to be pulling away from Valerie.

“I’m not going to yell.” Valerie frowned in confusion, tipping her head slightly to the side. “I was just surprised.”

“Yeah I kinda figured since you didn’t come in yesterday.”

“…It was my day off.”

Patty blushed this time, laughing slightly. “Oops.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a moment, Valerie fiddling with her spinner ring to keep herself calm through it.

“So…what are you going to do?”

“Finish my work?”

“Vallie.”

Valerie shrugged slightly, looking up from her hands. “I don’t know what to do or say Patty. It took me off guard. I’m not used to being the one to be asked out. Usually I do the asking.”

“Same for me. I guess I can understand that. Don’t know what I’d do if you were the one who took the first step.”

“Mm.”

“Two leaders in a relationship.” Patty laughed, shaking her head. “What would that be like?”

“I was never leader in my relationships. I just didn’t bother waiting for the other person to ask me out.” Valerie shrugged again realizing it seemed silly now that she said it out loud. “I was impatient in high school.”

“No dating in college?”

“Too busy.”

“Mm.” Patty seemed to be relaxing since Valerie wasn’t about to start yelling at her. “So...what happens now?”

“Hmm, no idea. What do you want to happen?”

“Well….all I did the day before was kiss you didn’t I?” Patty laughed, shaking her head. “Didn’t ask you a thing.”

“Nope.”

“Well then…want to try a date with me? Like one where we both know it’s a date?”

“I…sure.” Valerie quickly answered, trying to jump ahead of her anxiety before it started to creep up on her. “Any ideas where?”

“Sandwich shop?”

“…So the date you knew about but I didn’t is the theater and the one where we both know it’s a sandwich shop?” Valerie paused, raising an eyebrow. “Seems backward.”

“Hey I’m flying blind girl. You got an idea?”

“….No.”

“Then we go with my idea. Come on.”

Valerie laughed and got up from her desk, following after Patty as they headed to the sandwich shop. Valerie linked their arms together, noting for the first time that her head only came up to Patty’s shoulder. Their height difference never was apparent to her before because she or Patty were typically sitting down when they interacted.

The shop was rather crowded and Valerie had to move to stand more in front of Patty so the two of them could fit into the store better.

“Everywhere you take me is crowded.”

“People love to see me girl, can’t help it.” Valerie laughed softly, wondering where Patty got her confidence from. It was a little refreshing since neither her mother nor Valerie had that level of self-confidence.

As they waited for their turn to order Patty wrapped her arms around Valerie’s shoulders and leaned her chin on her head.

“You’re taking advantage of the fact I’m shorter than you.”

“Yes I am.”

Grumbling slightly Valerie didn’t pull away, instead leaning back into Patty as they waited. When they had a chance to order Patty had to do it because the crowd was too loud for Valerie to be heard over. Valerie had a naturally soft speaking voice and her anxiety meant she wasn’t comfortable raising it.

Finally getting out of the shop Patty lead her to a small sitting table to sandwich shop had set up. Opening her soda Valerie took a long sip as Patty dug into her sandwich. Tapping her fingers against the bottle she frowned for a moment, leaning back in her chair.

Valerie had been waiting for the moment when this felt like a date and not just hanging out with a friend. But her mom’s words went through her head about Patty already being her friend. When she was little her mom told her to look for relationships among her friends since they would be people she already knew and would be comfortable, not someone who would be taken surprised by some of the things about her.

Patty and her were friends. Their first meeting Patty was introduced to the fact Valerie suffered from panic attacks and anxiety and it never put her off talking to her. Hell she even punched out her old boss for insulting her before she learned that it was a common thing and not a moment of anger.

Taking another drink from her soda Valerie did a counting exercise she learned in her group therapy. It was a simple thing; count down the reasons something would go badly and then the reasons it wouldn’t. If the reasons it wouldn’t go badly outweighed the reasons it would then it was anxiety talking, not truth. Running down her lists she sighed and nodded to herself at the outcome.

Her mom was right; it was nothing more than her own anxiety being evil to her. Something she really should’ve been used to since it had been happening since childhood. Taking a deep breath Valerie held it and then counted backwards, making sure to keep the numbers evenly spaced. Finally done she went to her sandwich, eating half of it before she and Patty had to get going back to the fire station.

During the walk back they linked arms again and Valerie leaned into Patty, tipping her head onto the others shoulder. At the door Valerie tugged Patty to a stop. Before she could let her anxiety start creeping up again and saying things she didn’t want to hear Valerie leaned up and kissed Patty.

Apparently Patty was quicker to the draw than Valerie was because as soon as the kiss started Patty’s hand came up to hold her close, the arm they had linked together moving to wrap around her waist. Valerie braced both her hands against Patty’s shoulders in order to hang on as the other bent her backwards slightly in the kiss.

Once they pulled apart Valerie felt her cheeks flushed as she blinked up at Patty. “Well that was fun.” She laughed softly, shaking her head.

“Hey you’re the one who laid one on me girl.” Patty said, laughing as well as she tugged Valerie into the fire station. “Come on let’s get the others their food before they come looking for us.”

“You mean before Erin does. Abby and Holtzmann are too focused in their work to come looking.”

“You’d be surprised about Holtzy. Leave her for a while and she’ll go foraging for food and find the craziest things.”

“See now you’re making me curious.” Valerie said as they climbed the stairs, frowning slightly as she tried to think over what Holtzmann could possibly find to eat that would freak Patty out.

Maybe it was better she didn’t know.


	12. Injuried Pride

“Stop laughing.”

“Never.”

Valerie grumbled on her couch, laid out with one of her legs propped up. After her date with Patty Valerie had fencing practice, which normally wasn’t a problem for her. Expect today she was distracted and during a lunge she tripped over her own feet and landed wrong. Her ankle twisted angrily and even when she finally got home it had swollen something awful.

Charles had helped her get home and was now laughing as she lay grumbling. Putting a cup of water on the coffee table along with a bottle of pain pills he knelt down next to her.

“Want me to call someone?”

“Just toss me my cell.”

“Alright.” Charles tossed her phone onto her stomach. “I gotta get back to the gym before my other students take off.”

“Ta.” As Charlie left Valerie dialed her cell, resting it between her shoulder and ear.

“Hey baby.” Patty answered. “Didn’t think you’d be calling so early. Practice done?”

“For me.”

“What happened?”

“Twisted my ankle something horrible. I’m going to be hobbling tomorrow.”

“You okay girl? Need me to come by?”

“Bring food please? I can’t get up.”

“Alright baby I’m on my way.”

“You’re a dream.” Hanging up her phone Valerie sighed and grabbed the bottle of pain pills, downing them with some water. Settling back into the couch she sighed and rubbed her forehead, feeling like an idiot. When she was first starting out fencing she twisted her ankle a lot, but she was now a grown woman and should’ve know better than to not be focusing as she practiced.

The pills must’ve lulled her into some sleep because the next thing she knew Patty was lifting her head up to put a pillow under it.

“Patty?” She asked sleepily, blinking at the woman.

“Go back to sleep baby. I’m gonna get some ice for your ankle.”

Valerie yawned and relaxed back into the pillow, her eyes slipping closed again as she fell back asleep.

The next time she woke up it was later, but not by much. Her head was resting on Patty’s lap again and she blinked up at the woman. Patty was reading one of her books and hadn’t noticed she was awake until Valerie yawned.

“Hey baby, feeling better?”

“Muggy.”

“Happens when you take pain pills.” Patty’s hand came down and stroked through her hair gently. “Your ankle still acting up?”

“Throbbing.”

“Want more pills?”

“Can’t. If I take more on an empty stomach, I’ll puke.” Valerie groaned, sitting up. Her ankle was still propped up on the couch arm and a bag of water was resting on it. She assumed it had been the ice Patty got for her.

“Well I brought some fast food for you. Not the best, but still good.” With Valerie leaning up Patty was able get up and get the bags from the kitchen. “Got you a burger.”

“My hero.” If her mother had been there Valerie would be eating chicken soup until she stopped limping.

Patty came over and let Valerie lean into her before handing her a burger. “What happened?”  
“Landed wrong during practice. Charlie helped me home.”

“Ouch. You gonna be okay?”

“Just need to keep it elevated. I’ll be able to come into work tomorrow.”

“Uh-uh baby, you rest.” Patty rubbed her side gently, kissing her temple. “The others will understand.”

“I will go nuts if I can’t work.”

“It’s for a day.”

“Still.”

Patty laughed softly, resting her cheek on Valerie’s head and petting her side again as the other opened her burger and dug in. “Just take break baby. It’s for a day.”

“No.”

Sighing Patty moved her arm around Valerie’s shoulders, letting her lean her chin on it. “You’ll be fine Vallie.”

“I go stir crazy easily.”

“I can tell.”

Valerie snickered slightly, eating the burger happily. “It’s just a twisted ankle. I’ll put a compression sock on it and elevate it at my desk. I have dealt with this before.”

“Stubborn.”

“Yep.”

Patty sighed softly, tipping her head to rest more on Valerie’s, “I just don’t want you stressing your leg out for no reason.”

“I’ve gone to school like this before. Sitting at my desk with my foot propped up probably will be better than those days.” Valerie shrugged slightly as she ate.

“You know for an anxious person you like to argue.”

“One of my few talents.”

Patty chuckled softly, shaking her head. “How do you intend to get to work?”

That caused Valerie to pause, tipping her head to the side as she thought about it. “You may have a point there. Can I hitch a ride?”

“No.”

“That’s fair.” Valerie sighed, balling up the wrapper from her burger. “Crap. No way I’m gonna be able to handle the bus like this.”

“Nope. So you’re gonna stay home and rest.” Patty kissed her temple softly, hugging her close as Valerie tossed the wrapper into the trash can. “Nice shot.”

“Lots of practice.”

Patty shifted up again and went back into the kitchen, taking the bag of water with her. A couple minutes later she came back out with another bag of ice. Before she put in on Valerie’s ankle Patty checked it over, whistling lowly. “Damn baby it’s swollen to hell.”

“Looks better than it did before the ice.”

“Sure it ain’t broken?”

“The gym doctor checked me over, said it was just a twist.”

Patty hummed in answer, gently placing the ice bag on her ankle. Retaking her seat Patty tugged Valerie to lean against her again. “You deserve the rest Vallie.”

“Accounting isn’t a hard job. It’s not like I’ve been running around like the rest of you have. Ya’ll are the ones who deserve the day off.”

“We’re good. We take our time off.” Patty said, leaning forward to get the cup of water and pain pills. Tipping two out into her hand she handed them over to Valerie along with the water cup. “Take some more.”

“I’ll pass out again.”

“We’ll get you to bed before that. You need to rest.” Patty was insistent, pressing the pills into Valerie’s hands. “Come on baby.”

“Fine. Under protest and much whining.” Valerie said, finally downing the pills. After she swallowed Patty helped her up and she hobbled to her bedroom, stripping off her shirt and bra.

“Whoa girlie.” Patty chuckled as Valerie climbed into bed.

“I don’t sleep in a shirt.”

“I’m not complaining.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the updates are coming. Slowly, my brain is dead today


	13. Rest Day

Valerie groaned slightly from where she was laid out on her bed, leg propped up on a pile of pillows and a fresh bag of ice laid on the ankle. Patty had swung by in the morning to make sure she was staying home and had helped prop her leg up. According to her it was looking better, but she still wanted Valerie to stay home from work today. Valerie had protested but was ignored and given a pile of books to read. Her laptop was taken away by Patty to keep her from working instead resting.

Valerie burned through the books easily, they were things she already read before. It was now noon and she was laying in bed, completely bored. She had hobbled into the kitchen for a cup water and fresh ice for the bag before hobbling herself back to her bed. The light pressure she did put on her foot didn’t completely hurt, a small twinge but nothing like it had been the day before.

She would be able to return to work tomorrow, and Patty had been right. If she hadn’t rested for the chunk of the day than there was fair chance her ankle would be completely swollen again instead of just a twinge.

Valerie just hated being bored.

Grumbling softly as Duchess came in and hopped onto the bed she pet the dog’s fur gently and tipped a few pain pills into her palm and swallowed them with the water. Her phone beeped idly from her nightstand and she picked it up, still drinking her water as she did so.

_‘You feeling any better?’_

_‘Slight twinges, but better.’_

_‘Good. Told you resting was a good idea.’_

_‘Meh.’_

Valerie swore she could hear Patty chuckling from her spot in the firehouse, but she didn’t respond to the text. Yawning as the pain pills kicked in Valerie shifted on the bed and snuggled into her pillow, feeling like a little nap would probably relieve some of her boredom.

Or rather she wouldn’t be awake to be bored.

When she woke back up she was groggy from her nap, grumbling lowly as she struggled to sit up. Duchess was laid out on her chest and while not a big dog she was heavy enough to impact her breathing. Putting the dog back on the bed she sat up and yawned, noticing that the bag of ice was missing from around her ankle.

Looking around she couldn’t find it on the floor, which meant it hadn’t fallen off of her ankle. Taking the empty water glass she hobbled back out to the kitchen, though she could put more pressure on her ankle this time than she could before.

Just as she turned the corner to her kitchen she saw Patty standing there filling the bag with fresh ice.

“Hey baby. Thought you were sleeping.”

“Was. Just woke up.”

“Mm.” Patty waved for her to sit down on the couch and Valerie hobbled off to do that, still keeping the pressure to her ankle limited. Once on the couch she propped her foot up on the coffee table and grabbed the remote. Flipping through the channels she landed on a rerun of Mythbusters and left it to play.

After a few moments Patty come in and laid the fresh ice on her ankle before taking a seat herself. “How are you feeling baby?”

“Better. While I still protest not working, you were right.”

“Told you so.” Patty laughed, wrapping her arm around Valerie’s shoulder to hold her close.

“I’m going back to work tomorrow though. Otherwise I’ll go mad.”

Patty hummed softly in answer, pressing a kiss to her forehead softly. Sighing she leaned away and raised an eyebrow at her. “You ain’t walking around at work.”

“I know.” Valerie laughed softly.

“Good.”

Patty stayed long enough to make sure Valerie ate something and checked her ankle again before heading back to her own apartment. Despite having slept for the day Valerie was still tired so after eating and taking a shower in order to clean up she went back to bed.

The next morning she was back at work with Duchess and her limp was almost completely gone.

“Hey Val! Patty said you got hurt.” Holtzmann was fiddling with something that Valerie hoped didn’t blow up again.

“Twisted my ankle. I’m fine now.” Lifting her foot she rolled her ankle a few times. It pained a little but not as bad as it had been. “Tripped over my own feet like a dummy.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

“Mm.” Heading into her office she stopped short when she noticed there was a printer set up on a new table in her office.

“Oh yeah. Abby and Patty got that set up yesterday while you were out. Dipped into the budget so that you wouldn’t need to talk to Jenny from the Mayor’s office.” Holtzmann had apparently followed her into her office. “It’s got all the bells and whistled you wanted.”

“And both are taking off today so I can’t thank them.”

“Yep!”

“Clever.”

Holtzmann laughed softly and went back to her work table as Valerie took her seat and checked over what she missed the day before. There were a few emails that needed to be responded to and a stack of papers the others left for her.

She was done with half of the work by lunch and was leaning away from her computer when Erin poked her head in.

“Hey Valerie. I’m getting lunch. Want me to take Duchess out with me?” At her name Duchess looked up and gave a few whines.

“Best to do so. Her leash has bags attached to it to clean up.”

“Good. Come here Duchess, let’s go out.” Duchess came around Valerie’s desk and ran over to Erin, bouncing on her hind legs and whimpering as the other hooked her leash on. “I’m getting Chinese food. Want anything in particular?”

“Egg drop soup and spring rolls.”

“Got it.” With that Erin left the office, leading Duchess out with her.

“Be careful! She likes to rush squirrels.”

Erin just laughed and Valerie heard the second floor door shut behind her. Within a few moments Holtzmann was bouncing into the office with her.

“Squirrels?”

“She doesn’t chase them. Just runs at them once and lets them rush away from her. No idea why she does it.”

Holtzmann laughed and took a seat in the chair. “So what’cha miss?”

“Nothing much. Stack of emails from various supporters of the Mayor asking for information about ya’ll. For the record that should be Kevin’s job.”

“You’ve met the guy.”

“Fair enough.”

“Hell Abbs unhooked his phone after he decided to tell someone they were being haunted for ‘bad karma’.”

“…” Valerie raised an eyebrow at Holtzmann. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope!”

“How…why would he say that?”

“No idea.” Holtzmann laughed softly, shaking her head. “He’s a weird one.”

“You’re telling me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank everyone who's been patient with me and this series. I recently got a new job and am only now getting my schedule to my liking and it being capable of me writing anything.
> 
> There is gonna be a change in the updates I won't be able to do all three stories every day so on average only one is going to get updated a night. That's all I have energy for anymore without risking burnout.

**Author's Note:**

> Valerie's anxiety is based off of my own and my own experiences with anxiety attacks.
> 
> This story may not be updated on a daily basis like the other two, please be understanding of that


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